One of the world's most infamous airport battles has ended. Over 50 years ago, the French government proposed an airport project in Brittany called the "Great West” transatlantic gateway and expropriated over 4,000 acres of farmland near Nantes for the project. Five decades of protesting followed, involving thousands of people at rallies, the lands permanently occupied by protesters, and several violent clashes between protesters and police. Expansion of existing airports (at Nantes, at Rennes) was rejected by the government. The new Macron government committed to making a final decision by mid-January. Today came the announcement: in face of continuing "stiff opposition" the project would be abandoned and the site "would remain for agricultural use." The airport at Nantes will be expanded instead.The Guardian

One of the world's most infamous airport battles has ended. Over 50 years ago, the French government proposed an airport project in Brittany called the "Great West” transatlantic gateway and expropriated over 4,000 acres of farmland near Nantes for the project. Five decades of protests followed, with thousands of people at rallies, the lands permanently occupied by protesters, and several violent clashes between protesters and police. Expansion of existing airports (at Nantes, at Rennes) was rejected by the government. The new Macron government committed to making a final decision by mid-January. Today came the announcement: in face of continuing "stiff opposition" the project would be abandoned and the site "would remain for agricultural use." The airport at Nantes will be expanded instead.The Guardian

In a new paper about economic development in rural Ontario, the Rural Ontario Institute (policy director Norman Ragetlie,is also chairman of Ontario Farmland Trust) argues that one rural policy for all Ontario is insufficient; rural policies must address regional needs.TVO

The House of Commons Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food has proposed our first National Food Policy. Our vision for the remaining Federal Lands tallies perfectly with the Committee's recommendations. Have a read!

They are part of a growing movement – highly educated, ex-urban, first-time farmers, capitalizing on booming consumer demand for local and sustainable foods. Expert say they could have a broad impact on the food system.Washington Post

In the post-Cold War era, Germany decided to replace Tegel and Schönefeld airfields with a new airport in Berlin. Planned to be a model of infrastructure efficiency, it would modernize a runway of adjacent Schönefeld airport thus requiring construction of only one new runway. It’s been a decade-long disaster. The plan to have private investors build the airport fell through, their proposals deemed too expensive. The new airport was to open in 2011-2012, but now 2021-2022 is more likely. Most of the delay has been caused by major design and construction flaws in nearly all the safety systems in the passenger terminal, making it unsafe to use. It will take several more years to gut, redesign, rebuild, repair and certify these systems as safe. The original construction cost estimate of $4.3B has ballooned to over $10B – or $5B per runway.Business Traveller

Hurricane Irma completely destroyed 95% of the structures on the island of Barbuda, forcing evacuation of the entire population to nearby Antigua. Returning Barbudans find water and electricity have not been restored. The schools and hospital haven’t re-opened. Instead, they discover their government constructing an international airport on their landplace

Mexico City's airport reached its maximum aircraft handling capacity years ago, requiring construction of a second airport. Despite government pledges to build a green, sustainable new airport on the bottom of Lake Texcoco, an environmental disaster is unfolding. It is said that the airport construction cost estimate of $17B is likely to be low as engineers struggle to build solid foundations for runways on a constantly sinking lake bottom.New York Times

Governments support Ferrero's hope that 25,000 acres of hazelnut trees will be planted in Ontario within the next 10 years. Start-up requires investment of $6,000 per acre, plus $100,000 in equipment, for a crop that takes 10 years to reach full production. But the net return is 10 times that of corn.CountryGuide

The chief economist of Canada's export credit agency says that Chinese demand for high-quality Canadian food has been growing at double-digit rates since the turn of the century, and we've only just begun.EDC

Former Ontario Agriculture Minister Ted McMeekin comments on where marijuana greenhouses should be built: “You shouldn’t be building greenhouses on class 1 agriculture land… you should do it on class three or four land where you can’t grow anything ...".HamiltonNews.com

The aviation industry is aggressively pursuing use of biofuels to offset its explosive growth in greenhouse gas emissions. Critics say the amount of carbon offsets required by the aviation sector is bad news for our rainforests.The Guardian

Elon Musk has many big dreams. Two of his ideas are currently having an impact: Tesla may become a permanent disruptor in the automotive business, SpaceX is disrupting space satellite launch economics. He dreams his rockets can compete in the premium segment of the air passenger business. An interesting analysis of the commercial air passenger business.Hacker Noon

In a hard-hitting report, Ontario's Environmental Commissioner says Ontario must get serious about keeping food waste out of landfill, and crack down on the huge quantities of business and institutional waste that goes to landfill. Food waste in landfills causes pollution and releases methane, a potent greenhouse gas.MM&D

(Report) The aviation industry has been touting conversion to aircraft biofuels as the solution to their accelerating carbon emissions problem. Biofuelwatch reports that the industry's most viable feedstock today is palm oil. This threatens increased forest destruction and diversion of farmland from food production.biofuelwatch.org.uk

A one-year trend suggests we have reached peak global carbon dioxide emissions. This report says that concern is shifting to the accelerating demand in developing countries for meat protein, which increases methane, a far more significant contributor to global warming per tonne than carbon dioxide.The Guardian

Yet another study (this one UN-backed) confirms that modern industrial agriculture is not a sustainable way to feed ourselves. Too much farm soil is being ruined. If the situation is to be improved, governments need to make smart choices.The Guardia

During his visit to Hamilton airport, Transport Minister Garneau was vague about airport privatization. The only thing he's certain about is that the Credit Suisse report he's received on this issue won’t be released. Hmmm.HamiltonNews.com

There’s strong pushback from rural America over a Trump administration plan to end a "temporary" forty-year-old program subsidizing airline service to small airports. Flight subsidies are as high as $1,000 per passenger.NCPR